For A Cup Of Tea
by Ford.Ye.Fiji
Summary: Oh, the irony of it all. It was just supposed to be tea. The Doctor certainly had not expected to die like this. To die at the hands of one of the humans of the planet Earth he had fought and bled to protect. Doctor!Whump Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who


**A/N: *cracks knuckles and neck* Let's write some whump. Set somewhere between 'Asylum Of the Daleks' and 'Angels Take Manhatten.' Slight reference to a Lois McMaster Bujold book, see if you can find it. ;) Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, as you can see it would be bad if I did. Warning: slight language!**

River and Amy sipped tea in the kitchen contentedly. All in all it was a quiet day in the life of the Ponds. Rory was at work with an extra shift at the hospital so River and Amelia were having mother/daughter time.

Amy giggled as River finished her story about the Escobarens.

"A- and they thought you were a Vor? Oh, they must have mad!"

"Oh, worse than that downright furious. Smoke was coming out of their ears! Literally!"

Amy wiped tears from her eyes. "What you do while we're away. Your father, now, he would be worried about you. I really shouldn't encourage this type of behavior!"

River snorted but Amy's eyes twinkled at her from over her cuppa. Amelia put her tea down and put her head in her hand.

"Sooo, how's the Doctor?"

Her voice teased and River rolled her eyes. "Mo-" but then a familiar _vworp vworp_ emitted from the upstairs bedroom.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." River remarked as they heard a door slam, and Amelia choked on her tea as the Doctor bounded down the stairs.

"Ponds! Oh, hi River." His voice went down and he seemed to be hiding behind Amy. Uh-oh, what had happened now.

"Sweetie?" River asked with her eyebrow cocked in surprise. His face seemed to light up a bit.

"You're not mad at me anymore?"

"No, was I mad at you?"

"Oh. Forget everything I just said!"

"Doctor, what did you do? Why will I be mad at you?" Her voice darkened.

"I dunno! You just slapped me!" He shrugged and his boyish face peered at her worriedly. "Are you going to do it again?"

"I will if you don't tell me What it was." Grumbled River as she knocked back another swallow.

It was Amy's turn to laugh this time.

"River!" He sat down next to them and he then noticed their cups. "Tea?"

"We're all out."

"Aww." He kicked his feet. River tossed her curls and smirked.

An idea seemed to grow in Amy's mind. "Doctor? Can you go get us some more? We need you to go on a shopping trip for tea."

"Well, Amy I do have some important stuff to do in the TARDIS, I only came round for a quick pop-" River sighed and Amy shot her a 'please make him do it you're his wife' glance.

River stood up. "Sweetie?"

His adam's apple bobbed as he peered up at her. "Y- yes?"

She leaned down and kissed him soundly. Amy gulped. "I didn't mean like that!"

River broke apart from the Doctor who had turned as red as Amelia's bright hair. River sat back down and sipped her tea.

" _R- River,_ you shouldn't do things like that!"

River fluffed her curly hair as the Doctor tugged at his bow-tie. "Sweetie, tea?"

The Doctor nodded and got up to go. River giggled when the front door shut.

"It always works. Give him a bit of a scramble to his old brains, hard but I can manage it, and he becomes very compliant. Sensory overload of sorts."

Amy snorted. "It seems fitting that the one thing that makes the 'oncoming storm' vulnerable and confused is a kiss."

River threw back her head and laughed.

The Doctor came to the checkout of Tesco's with three boxes of tea in his tweed-covered arms. The salesperson looked bored as she placed the items in a bag.

The Doctor wondered why River had slapped him. Had he forgotten her birthday again? No. She had been crying too. Was it his daft younger self giving her a hard time? Or... His daft older self giving her a hard time?

It was funny, she had been wearing the same clothes she had been wearing today. White coat and shirt, dark brown pants and wide brown belt. Her ever so handy gun tucked at her side... And her space hair.

Long curls bouncing around her head in a halo of light from the kitchen. He just wanted to touch them, they were so very pretty. The Doctor was unaware that his face had taken on a slightly dreamy expression as he thought of his wife.

"Oi! Sir! You need to pay."

The Doctor jolted. It wasn't like him to drift off like that. "Yes?"

"Four dollars and fifty cents." She pointed at her screen.

Money? Oh, no. Money. "Yes, uh... Money, I think I might have some in my pocket."

The sales clerk sighed and went back to painting her nails a hot pink color that stood out next to her short coal black hair and tattooed skin.

The Doctor, meanwhile was having trouble with his pockets. He managed to find a solid gold piece and some leftover money from his time at Craig's. "Um. Here!" He handed the wad of bills and the lone coin over.

The girl stared wide-eyed at her bounty.

"Is that too little?" he asked nervously.

"No. No! It's way to much! I'll just... lemme, see here-" "Keep the the change!" Said the Doctor and he swiped the plastic bag and made his way out of Tesco's.

The girl looked up again and pushed her silver highlights out of her face. "Thank you! And don't drift off like that again! You really shouldn't, not with-" but the door slammed and cut off her voice.

The Doctor did hear what she had begun to say nor did he hear the rest of it when she finished with, "a murderer about!"

No, if the Doctor had heard, he might have not daydreamed about his wife as much. He might not have thought about the theory of relative pulsars and quasars as throughly as he did.

He might have noticed when he passed through an unsavory part of town, about a street from the Ponds residence. He might have also noticed the shadow of a person trailing him, a shadow with a gun.

The Doctor walked blissfully along the street unaware of the danger he was in. Of course, almost unaware. He noticed when he was alone and years of running Daleks sharpened his senses.

So when a branch cracked he whirled and saw a man pointing a weapon at him. The Doctor's expression morphed in one of disgust.

"Really? A gun?"

The figure was clothed in jeans and a black hoodie. The Doctor was reminded disturbingly of the day before he regenerated when he last saw the Master. Of course, the Master was dead, this man just dressed like him.

"You people are all the same. Always runnin' and worryin' and not given a damn about who gets in your way." The voice was gravelly and cracked. "My Isabella. She was victim of your like, got runned over by a pissed man. Didnae even stop."

"Well, I'm very sorry for your loss but that's no reason to go around shooting people who had no part in it, you could be so much better- work towards trying to make sure that doesn't happen to other people... Like Alexander Graham Bell! Lovely fellow by the way-"

The man snarled, "Shut up!"

But the Doctor kept it up, trying to buy time and hopefully convince this lost soul to turn away from the dark path he was currently on. He was unaware of the fey mood of the serial killer at the moment.

"Besides, would this wife? Isabella, want you to go on a killing spree (with a gun of all things) and murder innocent people? Be-" the Doctor's voice was cut off by the crack of a gunshot.

Meanwhile, a street away, River and Amy looked up from their cups of tea at the sound of the same gunshot echoing through their neighborhood. River jumped up and her heart raced at the thought.

The two women took off at the sound of another shot. River heard frightening words coming from an alleyway. "I'll kill you this time for sure, if you beg me too. You're fault... My Isabella..." Another shot and a moan this time.

River turned the corner and there was man with his gun pointed at a body on the pavement. Blood was pooled around the figure and as they neared they recognized the downed man. Well, downed Time Lord.

River's gun was drawn and pointed at the gunman. "Drop the gun!" River ground out, her voice at a deadly pitch.

The man glanced up and fear flashed briefly in the (fortish?) man's eyes. The man fired off his gun one more time at the body which jerked. River took aim and a green bolt flew after him which hit the man in the leg and he went down.

River quickly bent down next to her husband and Amy finally caught up. The ginger took in the scene with remarkable calmness- though it was probably more shock. Amy then whipped out her phone and dialed 999.

The Doctor jerked and spluttered as blood bubbled out from between his lips. River tried to hold back her tears as she took in the form of her husband. The Doctor weakly waved an arm and River grabbed it and squeezed it reassuringly.

"R... River..."

He had a punctured lung, he was hit in the upper leg, and two to the stomach region, she needed to put pressure on them. River let go of the Time Lord's blood smeared arm and she took off her crisp white coat and forced it into his bullet wounds.

The Doctor's back arched and groaned piteously at the sudden pressure. "Sorry, sorry, sorry." She murmured.

Amelia came over her face looked whiter then River's jacket. Well, as white as the jacket used to be. "Ambulance is on its way."

River shook her head trying to rid herself of tears. After about six and a half minutes later, the Doctor's eyes were staring off into the distance with a terrifying blankness. "Doctor, come on, Sweetie!"

The Doctor jerked slightly but his eyes were still just past River. "River..."

"Yes, my love, it's me."

"No... Run..." Before River could blink, he pushed her to the side with surprising strength for a Time Lord who had lost so much blood.

A bullet hit the brick wall behind her. The man who had shot the Doctor was sitting with a furious look on his face. He was leaning on the wall with his gun cocked and pointed at her. The shot had just missed her.

He pointed the revolver at her head. The shooter's moment hesitation only gave her and the Doctor enough time to begin to move. The man shot with the sixth and last bullet he had left and she knew she couldn't move in time.

River's reflexes though were already in motion. The Doctor threw up his hand and the bullet tore through it like tissue paper and he screamed. It gave her enough time to get out of it's deadly path and the bullet embedded itself in the wall, only grazing her cheek.

The Doctor fell back upon the ground and Amelia caught him. River turned and pulled out her gun.

The ambulance was just coming down the street and the Doctor's eyes had rolled back into his head in unconsciousness. The thing the had been trying to keep him from falling into, the place he might not come back from.

River stood and she could feel the blood trailing down her neck from her grazed cheek. She stepped forward and loaded her gun.

"My name is River Song, I am the Doctor's wife and you... When I'm done with you, no one will even know you existed." Her breath hissed out from her clenched teeth. The man looked frightened. "I think I might kill you now, you don't deserve to live another second."

Amelia was helping load the Doctor into the ambulance.

"You don't know what he's done to save this place just to have you come back and spit in his face." The man swallowed nervously. "Goodbye, stranger."

River shot him between the eyes and he fell back against the wall with a strangely satisfying thump.

Amy yelled, "River!" River turned and holstered her gun. She ran after her mother and climbed in the ambulance.

Amelia did not see the corpse of the Doctor's could be murderer.

Rory was almost to the end of his shift, all he had was this last patient. They were en route to the hospital right now. Another shooting from that serial killer, Rory wondered what poor bloke it was now.

A rush of people and a stretcher came into the surgery room and Rory ran over pulling on plastic gloves as he went and his mask. His wife and daughter were by the stretcher?

Oh no. That could only mean... And there he was, gaunt and pale from blood loss. His usually floppy brown hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.

The door closed upon River and Amy and he saw Amelia burst into tears on River's shoulder.

"Nurse Williams! I need the scalpel!"

Uh-oh. They couldn't operate on him! They didn't know his anatomy or anything, they couldn't perform on a two-hearted alien!

"Um, sir, I uh... Don't think we can-" and thankfully the door burst open. A woman with short blond hair took in the scene and a beautiful African-American woman behind her grabbed plastic gloves from the table.

"Official government business, I'll be taking over this operation." Rory almost sighed in relief when he recognized Kate Stewart form UNIT. Kate saw him and nodded

He nodded back and set to work with the UNIT doctor. "Ok, my name is Dr. Martha Jones. We will probably-"

 **Four Hours Later.**

Rory stripped off his gloves and chucked them into the trash can. He felt strangely dirty, as if he still had his friends blood on him. Rory went to wash his hands vigorously with soap and water, which were scrubbed raw by the time he entered the waiting room.

Kate was sitting next to Amelia and River was hugging Amy. River spotted him and he caught the pleading look in his daughters eyes. Rory took her place as River murmured something about going on a walk.

He stared after her with fatherly concern in his worried eyes.

River breathed in the outside air. Thank goodness she had felt she was going to suffocate in there. She finally let herself cry and hot tears slid down her cheeks and plopped onto her sleeve.

A man sat down beside her. "Hello, why are you crying? Am I late again?"

River froze. Oh, no he did not. She turned and there stood the Doctor, well and perfectly fine.

"River, are you all right?"

River suddenly felt burning rage. "Why would you do this! You knew you would meet me!" She slapped the Doctor and felt slightly guilty as soon as she had.

"River?"

"Go! Go away!"

The Doctor reached for her shoulder tentatively but she glared at him and he stumbled away. She heard the sound of the TARDIS leaving a second later. She rubbed her forehead and then she realized what had just happened.

The Doctor had gone back in time to see the Ponds (maybe to figure out why she was upset) and had in doing so, caused the incident in the first place. River quickly wiped her eyes and went back into the hospital.

He might be awake.

River found Amy talking to a doctor. The woman turned.

"Hello, my name is Martha Jones. I work for UNIT. The Doctor is fine. Both hearts are beating, and he won't need to regenerate. I assume you're the Doctor's current companions?"

"Well sort of..." Amelia said. "Kind of?" Rory answered at the same time. River stepped in. "It's complicated."

Martha nodded in understanding. "Everything's complicated with the Doctor. Would you like to see him? I believe he's conscious."

Amy squinted at Martha and then laughed. "You were a companion too, weren't you?"

Martha flashed her a blinding grin. "Yes, I was. Previous regeneration though."

Amelia got that glint in her eye whenever she found blackmail or something along those lines.

"We'll talk later." Amy said. And then the trio followed Dr. Martha Jones into the surgery room.

The Doctor grinned up at them from a mess of breathing tubes. River could see his breath hitch every time he breathed in, she could see the pain in his eyes that he tried to hide. That he managed to hide successfully from everyone but her.

She held back while Amy and Rory talked quietly to their son-in-law (that was weird to think about, never mind.)

Martha stood in the back unnoticed until the Doctor spotted her and his eyes lit up. The exchanged old stories and reminisced about times gone by.

Soon, Amy and Rory were herded out of the room by Martha when the Doctor showed signs of sleep and River stepped forward.

"You daft idiot."

The Doctor grinned sleepily at her. "C-couldn't let him kill you, now could I?"

"Don't you ever do that to yourself again. I'm very cross with you."

"Yes, I knew that this morning."

River's eyes flitted to his heavily bandaged hand and chest. She knelt beside him and took hold of his undamaged hand.

The Doctor noticed the cut on her cheek. "You need to get that looked at."

"It's already starting to scab over, it'll be gone by morning."

" _River_."

"Shush now, my love. Go to sleep."

The Doctor's eyelids were already closing when he murmured. "River Song, I love you."

"I know, Sweetie, I know."

Meanwhile, Martha Jones in the next room was told by the Doctor's companions that they were his in-laws and that the curly-haired woman who was almost half their age was their daughter... And the Doctor's wife.

What was ironic was all this bloody fuss had started for a cup of tea.


End file.
